MANILA, Philippines - March 1, 2005 - The International Organization for Migration (IOM), an intergovernmental agency in charge of managing Migrations issues worldwide, has installed an end-to-end network utilizing equipment from Cisco Systems®. IOM said that the new equipment has improved network availability and reliability to more than 99 percent and reduced operational costs by 70 percent by eliminating the need for dedicated leased lines into its other offices in different cities worldwide.

The IOM network comprises equipment including Cisco® 3725 multiservice access routers, Cisco PIX® 501 and PIX 515 security appliances, Cisco Catalyst® 2950 and Catalyst 2970G switches, and Cisco Aironet® wireless products.

Previously, IOM relied on leased lines and dialup connections to connect its regional offices into the organization's headquarters. Besides being costly to maintain, the regional offices experienced frequent interruptions to the network and irregular bandwidth capacities.

"The international leased lines we contracted plus a separate link for internet access had cost us a lot of money. We were spending in excess of US$100,000 a month just for the communication cost for the leased lines. We looked around at various alternatives and realized that we could save hundreds of thousands of dollars a month in leased line costs by moving to a single multifunctional link. This was precisely the issue that Cisco's solutions were able to address. Cisco's complete line of products, reputation for reliability, customer support and widely available training and documentation made us decide to make the switch," said William Kwende, head of IT service center, information technology and communication services of IOM.

The Cisco 3725 Multiservice Access Router offers IOM's regional offices a single, integrated platform that combines flexible routing and low-density switching. In addition, it supports internal in-line power for the EtherSwitch® ports, which means IOM can deploy IP telephony in the future.

"Helping organizations deploy robust, reliable and cost-effective networks is a major focus of Cisco. Our networking solutions provide a remedy for today's critical business issues as well as a path for future growth. For example, should IOM want to deploy IP telephony in the future, it will be a simple step because the network is already primed and ready for such applications," said Luichi Robles, country manager, Cisco Systems Philippines.

About IOM

IOM is the intergovernmental agency in charge of migration issues worldwide. It is committed to the principle that humane and orderly migration benefits migrants and society. The organization has 210 offices worldwide with over 5,000 staff. More information is available at: www.iom.int.